Personally, I use thumbnails (one widescreen monitor dedicated solely to 5 min charts, in a 4 by 2 grid, so 8 stocks total). I watch for a setup based on my technical criteria and intraday volatility. During earnings season, I will add/remove stocks accordingly, based on the price action of a gap (up or down).
This. MAKO and FOSL today. Short from the open. FOSL was worth more than $10 a share even after the initial drop from last night. Update: Open was 92.54. Right now 79.25. Say you were real conservative, shorted 300 shares. You are up $3900.
Yeah, such a big move doesn't happen often but it can make your month. MAKO is more typical. On a $29, you can catch $2-3 on bad news.
So if you like this type of trading, here's the link to my question about earnings websites. Earning websites
I find stocks that are lowly priced , high volume are very appealing . Competing with all the professionals in all the high visibility stocks is an uphill battle . Larger positions in lower priced stocks , with willingness to liquidate at lesser intervals in low visibility issues can be more rewarding that smaller positions in higher priced and more visible issues . Just my opinion.